Orlando Magic Secure Land Deal, Set to Build $200M Complex

2013 November 4

by Brian Serra

Rendering of the proposed new complex to be developed by the Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic are moving forward with plans to develop a $200 million entertainment complex and corporate headquarters adjacent to the Amway Center. Alex Martins attended the Orlando City Council meeting this morning in hopes of securing the purchase agreement for the land and he got his wish, via 7-0 vote. Martins said last week that the hope is that construction will begin next summer and will take place in a phased approach – pending the opening/relocation of a new Police Headquarters – and could take up to five years to completely finish.

The current deal is for the parking garage north of the Amway Center as well as the Orlando Police Headquarters, at a purchase price of $12.7M. The plans for the complex were previously announced to be approximately $100M, but during today’s meeting Martins announced that the deal could now approach $200M. Ambitious? Ambitious.

“We thank City Council and all of the City staff that we negotiated with on this very complex agreement, but today is really just the first step,” Magic CEO Alex Martins said. “It’s going to be a great opportunity for downtown and for the redevelopment of Parramore. We believe now through our estimates that the development could be a $200 million investment into downtown. It going to create hundreds, if not a thousand jobs overall, when you include the people who will be working in the facilities and constructing the facilities. So we’re really confident that this is going to be a great investment for downtown.”

The first step in the transformation of the land will be the demolition of the city-owned parking garage as early as next summer. That will allow for construction to begin on a new office building that will serve as the corporate headquarters for the Magic.

Following Monday’s unanimous approval by the City Council for the Magic to buy the land near the Amway Center, the Magic will now go through a 120-day investigation period and a 60-day closing process. The land is located north of Church Street, east of Division Street, south of Central and west of Hughey.

“We still have a development agreement that we have to come to with the city and a lease agreement on the police station site and then a number of other agreements before we actually take control of the land and ultimately close on the land,” Martins said. “Our team and the City’s team will continue to work on all of those elements and hopefully by this summer we’ll be ready to do some work on the land.”